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 IN MEMORIAM 
 
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 RICHARD SALTER STORRS 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 1885 
 
Reprinted, by permission, from the American Annals of the 
 Deaf and Dumb, April, 1885. 
 
I l? £.' 60 . 
 
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 flKIVFSillY BF ILUNQIS 
 
 RICHARD SALTER STORRS. 
 
 When an experienced and successful teacher falls from the 
 ranks of his professional brethren, and especially when such an 
 one was in the prime of manhood, the loss to the rising gener- 
 ation is great, and doubly great when that teacher had stood 
 for years in the very front rank in a special and peculiar kind 
 of instruction. Such a loss the profession of deaf-mute teach- 
 ing has sustained in the death of Mr. R. S. Storrs — one of its most 
 shining lights — who died at Longmeadow, Mass., Aug. 31st, 
 
 1884. 
 
 Richard Salter Storrs was born at Amherst, Mass., Sept. 
 29th, 1830. When he was four years old, his parents moved 
 to Longmeadow, which was thenceforth the family home. 
 
 Of Mr. Storrs as a boy his sister writes : “ He was very 
 sensitive and pure-minded, seldom caring to share in the 
 rough sports of those of his own age. A book was his meat 
 and his drink, and I had literally to urge him to out-of-door 
 
 life. * * 
 
 “ The larger part of his boyhood was passed at Braintree, 
 [in the family of his uncle, Dr. Richard S. Storrs,] where he 
 was most lovingly cared for, so that he always cherished our 
 uncle and aunt as his second parents.” 
 
 A schoolmate of his boyhood informs the writer that Salter 
 Storrs, as he was called, was then, as ever after, painstaking, 
 thorough, faithful, and conscientious in everything which he 
 undertook, and, intellectually, stood head and shoulders above 
 those of his own age. A keen observer, of quick sympathies, 
 abounding in wit and humor, and greatly relishing a kindly 
 joke, even when it bore most heavily upon himself, he was a 
 
 ,0 5455 5 
 
4 
 
 Richard Salter Storrs. 
 
 general favorite among his school-fellows. They had great 
 respect for his ability, and looked to him as a champion of their 
 boyish rights. Not a few times, when an irritated teacher had 
 laid some restriction upon their liberty, which they considered 
 unjust, did they secure -him as an advocate of their cause, and 
 seldom did his arguments fail to gain their case and secure the 
 removal of the restriction. 
 
 He was born a logician, and he delighted in a battle of words 
 in a righteous cause. In after years it was an amusement, in 
 which he often indulged among his friends, to assume some false 
 premise and argue from that standpoint, merefy to test the 
 quality of his adversary’s steel, — and one must hold a sharp 
 weapon and handle it with rare skill to hold his ground against 
 him. 
 
 From Braintree Salter Storrs passed to Williston Seminary, 
 at East Hampton, where he was fitted for Amherst College, 
 from which he was graduated in 1852, with the highest honors 
 of his class. Of his course as a student his college classmate 
 and life-long friend, his Jonathan, the Rev. John M. Greene, 
 D. D., of Lowell, Mass., thus writes : 
 
 “It was my good fortune to form the acquaintance of Richard 
 Salter Storrs, of Longmeadow, in the autumn of 1848. At that 
 time I entered the senior class in Williston Seminary under the 
 instruction of Luther Wright, A. M., the principal of the school. 
 Mr. Storrs was a relative of Mr. Wright and boarded in his 
 family. Well do I remember how that youthful, lad- like young 
 man impressed me. His eye was sharp and keen as a diamond. 
 His head was plump and round, every good phrenological 
 bump being at a high mark. And I recall distinctly the 
 impression which he made on me at his first recitations in the 
 class. 
 
 “When Mr. Storrs rose to recite Virgil or Cicero or Xenophon, 
 in that class of thirty-two young men there was not a listless 
 student on the seats. There was something about his manner 
 of reciting which roused the dullest scholar present into atten- 
 tion. It was not nervousness. It was not any strangeness of 
 tone or manner. It was not any swell or bombast such as I 
 remember one or two of the class had. For Mr. Storrs was 
 small in bodily stature, unobtrusive in manner, gentle as a 
 zephyr in his deportment. The something about him which 
 drew and enchained the attention of the whole class was the evi- 
 dent presence and working of an uncommon mind, combined 
 
Richard Salter Storrs. 
 
 5 
 
 with the self-conscious assurance that he had something to say 
 and he knew how to say it. The moment he began to scan a 
 passage in Virgil we felt from the precision and exactness of 
 the utterances that a master was at work. When he translated 
 the passage he had always a clear and definite idea, which he 
 expressed in the simplest words and the most intelligible sen- 
 tences. Every one in the class desired to hear what he had to 
 say. This kind of charm lasted the whole year. He stood out 
 above us all as our leader. No one disputed the fact that he 
 was our brightest mind and most promising fellow-student. It 
 is not strange that the valedictory addresses were assigned to 
 him on the day of our graduation. No one of us thought of any 
 one else for this place of honor. 
 
 “ When we entered Amherst College, the next autumn, it was 
 my privilege to be brought into a closer relation to Mr. Storrs. 
 By one of those special and sad providences which sometimes 
 occur both of us were deprived of our room-mates. Thus we 
 came together in a very unexpected way, and began an acquaint- 
 ance and intimacy which not only lasted through college life, 
 but to the day of his death, growing stronger all the time. I 
 never saw him in any place where he did not acquit himself as 
 a true, noble, Christian man. 
 
 “ One noticeable trait in the character and life of Mr. Storrs 
 was his conscientiousness. He studied God’s word, and brought 
 all his convictions into harmony with the teachings of those 
 blessed oracles. There was no moral philosophy for him except 
 that of the Gospel of Christ. He saw into the inner meaning of 
 the words of the Great Master, and drew from them strength 
 and life. 
 
 “His conscientiousness showed itself not only in Sunday 
 duties, but in week-day duties as well. There was not a lesson 
 assigned to the class w T hich he did not faithfully and honestly 
 prepare to the best of his ability. He put his whole soul into 
 a grammar lesson as truly as he did into the most beautiful 
 passage of Homer. It was sometimes almost laughable to me 
 to see how he would discover a philosophy in the rules of pros- 
 ody ; but doubtless he did discover much more -there than I did. 
 It all arose from the fact that his whole soul was in whatever he 
 studied ; he made it a matter of conscience to strike to the bot- 
 tom of every subject with which he grappled, and to do his best 
 in the work of every day. 
 
 “ He was very methodical in his use of time. That was one 
 
6 
 
 Richard Salter Storrs. 
 
 great element in his success as a student. He had no wasted 
 moments. Perhaps he did not cultivate the habit of play 
 enough ; he pursued his vocation too closely and neglected too 
 much his avocation. But he had conscience about it. Time 
 was a precious treasure to him, and he could not waste it. 
 Every appointed hour for study had its work, into which he 
 put his best strength. 
 
 “Mr. Storrs had the joy of a good conscience. His very 
 countenance showed it. There was nothing evil in his eye, 
 nothing sinister in the expression of his face. If he had said 
 or done anything wrong or unbecoming, he had no rest till sat- 
 isfaction was made and peace was restored to his conscience. 
 
 “Another noticeable trait was his intellectual breadth and acu- 
 men. There was not another man in the class who so quickly 
 and completely grasped a subject given us for study as he did. 
 His mind worked with great rapidity, and it struck down to the 
 lower strata of thought. It was interesting sometimes to see 
 him in the recitation-room when he evidently saw further into 
 the subject than the teacher did. Also his power to group 
 things and show their differences and mutual relations was 
 quite unusual. His brain was large and of the best quality, 
 and it was thoroughly under his control, so that no ordinary 
 mind could cope with him. His gift of language was extraor- 
 dinary. His translations in the class-room were often of such 
 high order that they would have been elegant English if they 
 had been written as they fell from his lips. I do not know that 
 he ever wrote a line of poetry, but he was full of the poetic 
 sense. The nice harmonies of words he felt in every part of 
 his nature, and he could bring out the hidden powers of their 
 meaning, and marshal them forth into sentences as few mortals 
 can. He excelled as a student in all the great branches of 
 study. If you were in the mathematics with him, you would 
 think that he was well at home there. If you studied the an- 
 cient classics with him, you would say that he was certainly 
 now where he was doing his best. If the subject of study were 
 mental and moral philosophy, you would say those branches 
 were his specialties. I knew him long and intimately, and can 
 hardly tell what his special gift was. He seemed to have all 
 gifts. I think, however, the department of language was more 
 to his taste than any other ; but he would have been a rare 
 scholar in anything, had his physical constitution enabled him 
 to work his brain to the maximum of its capacity. 
 
Richard Salter Storrs. 
 
 7 
 
 “ He made the curriculum studies his first duty in college, as 
 every wise student will ; but he found time for not a little gene- 
 ral reading besides. He knew how to get the best books on the 
 best subjects, and he understood, what is a rarer gift, how to 
 read a book to the best advantage. Macaulay’s ‘Essays’ was a 
 favorite book of his in college. The flowing style of Macaulay, 
 as well as many of the subjects treated, was congenial to him. 
 
 “I would also say a word about Mr. Storrs 'as a friend. 
 Thirty-six years was I intimate with him, and I never knew 
 him false to a trust, never discovered that he failed to do what 
 could reasonably be expected of him in any situation, never 
 heard him utter an unkind or uncharitable word about his 
 friends, nor ever saw him when he would not sacrifice self for 
 the good of others. 
 
 “ The Latins called a friend an alter ipse. Such Mr. Storrs 
 regarded his friends. We felt sure that we could trust him, 
 for our interests were made his own. His imprudences would 
 not harm us, for he was not imprudent. His heart would not 
 grow cold and forget us, for his affections were warm, strong, 
 and deep. He would not leave us, choosing others in our 
 stead, for fickleness was no part of his nature Prosperity 
 did not warm the ardor of his devotion; adversity did not 
 cool it. I do not think he had many dear friends. He was 
 friendly to all, but to a few he was everything which the 
 precious w ord friend can mean. The very depth and intensity 
 of his affection would limit it. When with those whom he 
 trusted he threw off reserve and opened his heart and mind 
 most freely, you could see all he was in spirit and temper, as 
 well as in habit and life. But the more deeply and truly we 
 knew him the greater was our respect and love for him. Hav- 
 ing been with him in all the experiences of nearly two score 
 years I cannot recall an instance when he was lacking in sym- 
 pathy, in help, in encouragement, in sincere congratulation, as 
 became a high-minded, unselfish, genuine friend. 
 
 “ Another trait, and one which I would particularly emphasize, 
 was his religious character. This was the crown of all with 
 him. Not religiousness, but religion, pure and undefiled, 
 characterized him. Not a word of cant fell from his lips ill 
 conversation or in prayer. Morning and evening in our student- 
 room have I knelt with him and heard him pour out his heart 
 in supplication, and I have heard him speak in the class prayer- 
 meeting and in the larger assemblies of the students engaged 
 
8 
 
 Richard Salter Storrs. 
 
 in religious services, but I never heard an insincere or perfunc- 
 tory word fall from his lips. His heart was always in what his 
 mouth uttered. He was 6 an Israelite indeed, in whom was no 
 guile.’ 
 
 “ His love for the sacred Scriptures was noticeable even in col- 
 lege. He had been trained up in the oracles of God, and he 
 made the truths in them the stimulus and solace of his soul as 
 well as the guide of all his life. He would often by a single 
 remark irradiate a passage of Scripture and help one into a 
 deeper and truer meaning of it than he had had before. He 
 possessed what Wordsworth calls 4 that inward eye which is the 
 bliss of solitude.’ He saw deeper into truth and higher than 
 ordinary mortals do. 
 
 “ In later years Mr. Storrs knew, for a time at least, what it 
 was to wrestle with doubts. His mind was troubled somewhat 
 with speculations, and he felt like changing in some degree the 
 fundamentals of Christian doctrine, as he had held them. But 
 in his college days the spectre of doubt did not haunt him. 
 His life was one of a sweet glad faith in the Son of God ; he 
 accepted the sacred Scriptures as the inspired word of God, 
 and able to make us wise unto salvation, and the whole system 
 of evangelical truth was the delight and joy of his soul. He 
 enjoyed sermons which were plain, practical, spiritual, pungent. 
 He liked conversation which helped him to walk more closely 
 with God, and to enter more deeply into the spirit and life of 
 Jesus. His religion was not a speculation, a matter of the 
 head, but it took root deep and strong in the heart, controlled 
 the will, guided the conscience, and regulated the life. I do 
 not mean to hint that there was ever a time in his life when all 
 this was not true. What I would convey is that during his 
 college life, the period of which I am particularly speaking, 
 these things were true in a marked degree. The period of 
 doubt comes to every active mind some time. It came to him 
 later than it often comes, and he passed through it triumph- 
 antly, coming out of it rooted and grounded more firmly than 
 ever in the faith of eternal life through the crucified One. 
 
 “Much more could I say of one so dear to me, and who 
 shone out in our college days as an intellectual star of great 
 magnitude.. He was a favorite of all his classmates. He led 
 us in scholarship, and no one disputed the position which he 
 held when the highest honors at our graduation were given to 
 him. He was every inch a man, and we all knew it. Had his 
 
Richard Salter Storrs. 
 
 9 
 
 physical endowments equalled his mental, or had the college 
 enjoyed then what it has so liberally provided now, a good 
 gymnasium, so that muscle and nerve adequate to so strong 
 and active a mind could have been developed, Richard Salter 
 Storrs, of Longmeadow, would have become a scholar and a 
 man of great renown in our land. As it was, the brain was too 
 large for the body, and all his life he worked at a fearful dis- 
 advantage. 
 
 “ But the battle is ended ; the crown is won. What trials he 
 had to contend with in bodily weakness few of us will ever 
 know ; but the day will reveal it, and we shall all say that he 
 was a hero in suffering and a victor in life’s conflict.” 
 
 Descended from a long line of ministers, heir to a rich in- 
 heritance of mental and. moral qualities, the one ambition of 
 Mr. Storrs up to the time of his graduation “had been to pur- 
 sue the family calling of preaching. His failure to do this from 
 ill health was the great disappointment of life with him, and 
 this is the key that unlocks much of his after character, though 
 from his sister’s misfortune he became deeply interested in deaf- 
 mute instruction.” 
 
 Upon that work he entered in September, 1853, and from that 
 time until 1884, with the exception of two years (1864-1866) 
 during which he held a professorship in the National Deaf-Mute 
 College, at Washington, D. C., he was a teacher in the American 
 Asylum, at Hartford, Conn., where he impressed himself upon 
 the school, and upon the whole profession, and did much by 
 his example and by his written and spoken words to advance 
 the cause of deaf-mute education. For the excellence of its 
 present methods of instruction the American Asylum owes 
 more, directly and indirectly, to Richard S. Storrs than to any 
 other one man. 
 
 For the following facts regarding the connection of Professor 
 Storrs with the National Deaf-Mute College at Washington, I 
 am indebted to Dr. E. M. Gallaudet, its President : 
 
 “ Professor Storrs began his duties in the College at Wash- 
 ington in September, 1864. He was the first instructor in the 
 College. His professorship was at first that of Linguistics, 
 but in 1865 he assumed the chair of Mental Science and Eng- 
 lish Philology. 
 
 “During the closing months of 1865 Professor Storrs suf- 
 fered much from insomnia, and his health was impaired to such 
 a degree as to lead him to propose to sever his connection with 
 
10 
 
 Richard Salter Storrs. 
 
 the College. His services, however, were so highly valued that 
 he was urged to devote himself for a time to the solicitation of 
 funds for the endowment of scholarships in the College, in the 
 hope that a relief from the confining work of the class room 
 might lead to the re-establishment of his health. 
 
 “ His efforts to collect funds for the College were crowned 
 with very considerable success, and his health was much im- 
 proved. The pressure of considerations of a family nature, 
 however, to urge his return to New England was so strong as 
 to induce him to resign his position in the summer of 1866, 
 that he might resume his connection with the American Asylum 
 at Hartford. 
 
 “ Professor Storrs, though identified with the work of the 
 College for a short period only, rendered very important service, 
 especially in the assistance he gave in arranging its course of 
 study. His counsel was uniformly and strongly that the or- 
 ganization of the College should be assimilated as closely as 
 possible to that of American colleges in general. In this he 
 upheld my own views against quite serious but unsuccessful 
 efforts in the Board of Directors to establish a low standard 
 for graduation from the College.” 
 
 The impression which Mr. Storrs left upon the minds of those 
 who came under his instruction will be seen from the following 
 words from the pen of Professor J. B. Hotchkiss, formerly a Col- 
 lege student under Mr. Storrs, but now a member of the College 
 faculty : 
 
 “ The impression produced by Mr. Storrs in the College class- 
 room was that of an earnest and sympathetic teacher. To the 
 young men of his classes he was a fellow-seeker after knowledge, 
 and the most devoted among them was not as enthusiastic as 
 he in the investigation of the matter in hand. Quick to per- 
 ceive the difficulties of those he was leading, he was painstak- 
 ing and patient in his efforts to show the right way to overcome 
 them ; yet, while none could be more gentle and helpful than 
 he with the slowness arising from natural disadvantages, the 
 one requisite he exacted from all was that they should be as 
 eager to receive instruction as he was to impart it. Dullness 
 he could readily forgive ; listlessness was the one unpardonable 
 sin. A yawn during a recitation was an impossible perform- 
 ance for him, and a sleepless night was scarcely a sufficient 
 excuse for this breach of class-room decorum on the part of a 
 student. He could easily overlook blunders arising from excess 
 
Richard Salter Storrs. 
 
 11 
 
 of zeal or a misapplication of vigorous thought, or perhaps see 
 something to praise in them ; but blunders from carelessness or 
 inattention aroused a serious remonstrance — a remonstrance 
 which he was careful to address to the offender’s sense of reason 
 and justice, and which, for greater effectiveness, he usually de- 
 livered in private. With these qualities he easily awakened a 
 responsive earnestness and enthusiasm in the young men under 
 him, and so made his instruction of the highest benefit.” 
 
 It was my privilege to enjoy the intimate friendship of Mr. 
 Storrs, and to be closely associated with him in professional 
 work for eighteen years, and it is with pleasure that I can bear 
 testimony to his rare success in his chosen field of labor. 
 
 As a teacher of deaf-mutes he had no superior and few, if 
 any, equals. He loved the work, and was an enthusiast in his 
 profession. His rare natural endowments and rich mental ac- 
 quirements were made to do full service in behalf of his pupils. 
 Freely had he received ; freely did he give. 
 
 Beady in the invention of devices and fertile in expedients to 
 aid the understanding of his pupils, he brought ideas to their 
 minds with great rapidity, clearness, and force. Systematic in 
 everything, he always knew just what he had taught and how 
 he had taught it. Every new principle naturally followed what 
 had gone before and paved the way for that which was to follow. 
 So he knew for what errors his pupils were to be held sharply 
 to account, and what, as errors of ignorance, were to be over- 
 looked and ignored, until the principles involved in the mis- 
 takes were reached in natural sequence. 
 
 By this course the pupil at once saw the reason for such cor- 
 rection and his own culpability for his error. His attention was 
 not distracted by that which was beyond his comprehension, but 
 was concentrated upon that which he easily understood. He saw 
 that no unreasonable thing was required of him ; that it was pos- 
 sible for him, by exercising his judgment and his reason, to avoid 
 certain classes of errors and to enlarge constantly the firm ground 
 on which he stood. His courage was kept up, and success in- 
 spired his enthusiasm. 
 
 Mr. Storrs had the happy faculty of turning mistakes, even, 
 to good account, when they were thoughtful ones rather than 
 those of carelessness, the odium of the errors being thrown upon 
 the irregularities and incongruities of the English language 
 rather than upon the pupil, who learned what his mistakes 
 were and the correction for them without being disheart- 
 
12 
 
 Richard Salter Storrs . 
 
 ened by them. It sometimes seemed as if this rare teacher 
 drew more courage for himself and more hope for his pupils 
 from those mistakes (perhaps we might better say failures to 
 conform to the English idiom) which showed an active and 
 thoughtful mind than from the correct sentences which might 
 be mere products of the memory, while the mind was almost 
 inactive or ran in a rut. 
 
 Mr. Storrs was a thorough believer in the effectiveness of 
 visual aids in the instruction of all pupils, and of their pre- 
 eminent value in the teaching of deaf-mutes. Many such helps, 
 and covering every branch of study which he taught, were de- 
 vised by him. With an entire absence of that spirit of selfish- 
 ness which sometimes has led teachers to keep to themselves 
 expedients and devices of their own invention, he generously 
 gave the benefit of all such aids to any who could use them 
 for the good of deaf-mutes. 
 
 Yery early in his course as an instructor Mr. Storrs worked 
 out a system of diagrams for grammatical analysis, which have 
 proved to be an invaluable aid, when judiciously used, in the 
 acquisition of a clear understanding of the grammatical con- 
 struction of the English language. 
 
 Gifted to a rare degree with the language faculty, master of a 
 rich diction, Mr. Storrs had a fluency in the use of language, 
 which enabled him constantly to give his pupils a great variety 
 of illustration in written language, which gave them practice 
 like in kind to that of their more favored hearing friends, 
 though inevitably far separated from it in degree. 
 
 Then, too, he made language a living thing to his pupils by 
 seizing upon the every-day occurrences of life and presenting 
 them in written language. 
 
 In all his teaching Mr. Storrs came down to the plane occu- 
 pied by his pupils, and took them by the hand to lead them to 
 that which was higher. So he inspired them with hope, courage, 
 strength. He worked out a course of systematic instruction in 
 language specially adapted to the use of deaf-mutes — a course 
 of careful sentence building, which has been used in the younger 
 classes of the American Asylum for several years with very satis- 
 factory results, securing to a marked degree immunity from 
 what are commonly known as “deaf-mutisms.” It also secures 
 a comparatively even development of a class, a most important 
 point to be gained. 
 
 While Mr. Storrs was remarkably thorough and methodical 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY CF ILLINOIS 
 

 
Richard Salter Storrs. 
 
 13 
 
 in his school work, as in everything else which he undertook, 
 yet he was removed as far as possible from everything that 
 savored of machine-like methods of teaching. His versatility 
 and fertility enabled him to make even the old ever fresh and 
 new, and so he could work over the same ground again and 
 again, until the dullest had mastered it, without ever wearying 
 the brightest. 
 
 The chief aim of Mr. Storrs, as a teacher, was to train his 
 pupils to independent thought. He was a keen student of the 
 human mind, and if he saw vigorous mental action and right 
 processes of reasoning he sometimes carried his admiration of 
 success in that line so far as to make too little account of accu- 
 racy in results, provided the method of reaching them was right, 
 particularly in arithmetical work. This was all the more re- 
 markable, since he was so particular and so exacting of accu- 
 racy from himself in every minute detail. 
 
 As a disciplinarian Mr. Storrs was eminently successful. He 
 demanded from every pupil in his class diligence, faithfulness, 
 and cheerful submission to authority. Quick to read the feel- 
 ings of his pupils, he possessed an iron will, which was satisfied 
 with nothing short of entire and unconditional surrender to it- 
 self. Insubordination of spirit, even where there was outward 
 obedience, he could not endure. It troubled him in school and 
 out of it. It disturbed him by day and robbed him of his sleep 
 at night. There was no peace for him but through complete 
 victory. This result he strove earnestly to reach by moral 
 means. The manliness, the reason, and the moral perception 
 of his pupils were all called to his aid, and all must fail before 
 sterner means would be brought into requisition. Love, not 
 fear, was the means chiefly relied upon for influence over his 
 pupils, though he could use severity as a last resort. 
 
 The relation of Mr. Storrs to his pupils was that of intimate 
 friendship. He inspired in them both love and admiration for 
 himself. He entered into their feelings and saw things from 
 their standpoint. The hard, dry drill of class work was con- 
 stantly relieved by a play of wit and humor, which, while never 
 allowed to lead the class into serious disorder, yet kept them 
 wide awake and in the best of spirits, sharpening their wits and 
 quickening their perceptions. Listlessness and inattention were 
 almost unknown there. 
 
 Mr. Storrs was warmly interested in the spiritual welfare of 
 his pupils, and earnestly endeavored to cultivate in them sensi- 
 
14 
 
 Richard Salter Storrs. 
 
 tiveness of conscience and religious principle. The earnestness 
 of his prayers for them, at the teachers’ weekly meetings, his 
 colleagues will not soon forget. His chapel exercises, both on 
 the Sabbath and at the opening of the school on week days, 
 were always broad, clear, forcible, and earnest, and were in- 
 teresting and instructive to the older portions of the school, 
 but were apt to shoot over the heads of the younger pupils. 
 This was done designedly with the idea that the older pupils 
 should be given the best which they were capable of receiving, 
 and that the younger ones would grow to an appreciation of bet- 
 ter things and take their turn later in their school course. 
 
 As a sign-maker Mr. Storrs, though lacking in ease and 
 grace, was always precise, clear, fluent, and forcible. But signs 
 used either by himself or by others came in the course of years 
 to have a strange effect upon his fine nervous organization. 
 At times they were very repugnant, almost loathsome to him. 
 He could scarcely endure the sight of them. There were times 
 when it was a burden to talk even with his beloved sister, whose 
 society was usually such a delight. There were times when 
 his nerves were particularly sensitive, in which sign-making 
 would so work upon them that to conduct the chapel exercises 
 on the Sabbath would be almost sure to cause two or three 
 sleepless nights. There would come occasions in the midst of 
 a fluent discourse, when it would seem to him as if he could not 
 proceed further, but must stop short. Yet he was a perfect 
 master of the sign-language, and none could use it with more 
 fluency and force. So strong was this feeling upon him that 
 he felt that he could not endure the nervous strain of the chapel 
 exercises, and for years he seldom appeared upon the chapel 
 platform, but performed all his duties there through a sub- 
 stitute. 
 
 Yet, in spite of this nervous effect of sign-making upon him- 
 self, Mr. Storrs was a radical believer in the invaluable service of 
 signs in the instruction of the deaf, and no teacher used them 
 more effectively than he. He believed that signs were and must 
 be the foundation-stone of all successful education of genuine 
 deaf-mutes as a class. 
 
 In regard to articulation he held very decided views, conceding 
 that there was a place for it in the instruction of the deaf, but 
 maintaining that it should be confined to cases in which prac- 
 tical benefit could be derived from it, or, in other words, to 
 the semi-mute, the semi-deaf, and a few exceptional cases of 
 
Richard Salter Storrs. 
 
 15 
 
 the congenitally deaf, showing phenomenal aptness in acquir- 
 ing that branch. He had watched the progress of articulation - 
 teaching for years, and formed his conclusions deliberately. 
 How thoroughly he explored the whole ground, the readers of 
 the Annals do not need to be informed, and even those who 
 have reached conclusions diametrically opposed to his must con- 
 cede that he had thoroughly examined the subject from both 
 sides, and was able to give a reason for the faith that was in him. 
 
 Mr. Storrs was a valuable counselor. His mind possessed 
 rare analytical power, and worked with surprising rapidity, 
 grasping the salient points of a question. It seemed to look 
 at all sides of a subject at once, and to understand the bearing 
 of it in every direction. It seized upon the broad general prin- 
 ciple which lay at the foundation of every question, and viewed 
 it from that standpoint. When his conclusions were reached, 
 he could state them with remarkable clearness and force. On 
 the other hand, when he wished to conceal his opinions and yet 
 felt called upon to speak, no man could say nothing in more ele- 
 gant phrases than he. 
 
 Mr. Storrs was a man of very strong prejudices and, occa- 
 sionally, in questions which affected himself or his interests, 
 he could neither see nor be persuaded to believe that the shield 
 had a silver side as well as a golden one. 
 
 Without faults Mr. Storrs was not, but who of us is 1 Idio- 
 syncrasies he had which grew upon him in ]ate years, and 
 sometimes proved very trying to his friends ; but, as we look 
 back upon them now, we can see that they were largely the re- 
 sult of an inherited superabundance of nerves and of the 
 progress of an insidious disease, disturbing the balance of his 
 mind, and we attribute them to that rather than to the man. 
 
 Overwork in the winter of 1883-84, following the long and 
 severe strain caused by the sickness and death of his mother, 
 brought on his old trouble, insomnia, from which he had suf- 
 fered occasionally nearly all his life. This was still further 
 aggravated by the illness and death of his beloved Aunt Eunice, 
 whose departure preceded his by only a few weeks. The dis- 
 ease reached a point where it could not be checked. It marched 
 w T ith steady tread to its inevitable result, the dethronement of the 
 reason, and deprived of responsibility our friend went unbidden, 
 but we must believe not unwelcomed, to his Maker’s presence. 
 
 JOB WILLIAMS, M. A., 
 
 Principal of the American Asylum , Hartford , Conn. 
 
16 
 
 Richard Salter Storrs. 
 
 [Mr. Storrs’ pastor at Longmeadow, a neighbor and friend of many 
 years, contributes the following memorial :] 
 
 It seems fitting that the tribute you desire from me to the 
 memory of my beloved friend should begin with that beautiful 
 September afternoon when we gathered at his home to perform 
 the last sad rites of burial. Rev. Dr. S. G. Buckingham, his 
 former pastor at Springfield, offered prayer at the house ; his 
 cousin, Rev. Dr. R. S. Storrs, of Brooklyn, N. Y., conducted the 
 final service at the grave, and his pastor’s address was as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Beloved Feiends: The wise man saith, “A word fitly spoken, in due 
 season, how good is it.” Would that help from above might be given me 
 to speak that word. And yet, how far beyond what we can see now, or at 
 present understand, is the knowledge of his ways that are past finding out. 
 God’s laws indeed, which hold the body and the mind in such a wonderful 
 mystery of connection while we are in this earthly tabernacle, must have 
 their working out, and sometimes in great disaster — in terrible catastrophe, 
 in an encircling gloom. The cyclone will come, the consuming conflagra- 
 tion, the destroying pestilence, and sometimes, appalled by the fearful 
 dangers that beset us, our faith is almost shaken ; we cry out — almost in 
 despair — Does our Father live ? Does He see ? And then we remember 
 Gethsemane — the strong crying, the bloody sweat. We think what He, 
 the only begotten and dearly beloved, suffered once for us — how He was 
 smitten and afflicted, and yet was heard in that He feared, and how He who 
 hath overcome the world ever liveth to make intercession for us ; and then 
 we say, our trembling faith reassured, Not my will, but thine be done. 
 Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight. And then the divine 
 assurance comes, “All things work together for good to them who love 
 God.” Beloved, although God’s laws, working out their sure results in 
 the great disaster before which we stand appalled, must needs unsettle in 
 due time the mind of him who could not sleep — although the morbid im- 
 pulse which he dreaded, as he would the tiger’s leap, did spring upon him 
 and did overcome him — yet we have this sure comfort : He did love God. 
 That assurance belongs to us, “All things work together for good to them 
 who love God,” and that is enough to lead us out of this encircling gloom, 
 and all our journey through. And as to the mysteries of God’s providence 
 that must ever be interwoven with our earthly history, what we see not 
 now we shall see hereafter. From what an earthly future of mental woe, 
 worse than death, that sudden release, which we would have prevented if 
 we could, delivered our dear friend, we know not. It is best that we 
 should not have such prescience. 
 
 It is not for me at this sad hour to recount the thronging memories of 
 brighter days ; to trace along the years gone by our loving intercourse ; 
 to pour out the treasures that for those who loved him are laid up in 
 heaven. Would that to me were given that gift of song which enabled 
 Alfred Tennyson to weave that beautiful tribute to his friend Arthur 
 Henry Hallam. To us who know how that wondrous lyric, the “In Me- 
 moriam,” was woven into the very tissues of the life and soul of Salter 
 
Richard Salter Storrs. 
 
 17 
 
 Storrs, its thoughtful stanzas will have evermore a tenderer and deeper 
 meaning. How is everything about us inseparable from him ! How does 
 everything bear the impress of his heart and mind — that sensitive spirit, 
 that fine-grained nature — without its faults ? — oh, no ! — but those faults, as 
 they are softened now in the mellow light of all his days, the earlier and 
 brighter days of so many precious memories, as well as the later days of 
 shattered nerves and distressful apprehensions, and morbid impulses — how 
 tenderly we view them, how they melt away as do the morning mists ! 
 How does the memory of our friend, whose earnest face we shall see no 
 more, whose pleading, pathetic voice, of late so intoned with fears, we 
 shall hear no more, bring him up before us — himself, the real man, our 
 fellow-citizen, who has so identified his life with ours, the last among us 
 to bear an honored name, to represent in male descent that noble lineage 
 of godly ministers who wrought in their eventful days our foundation- 
 stones. How does this ancestral home, the old parsonage, in its every 
 adornment, every convenience, every picture upon the walls, speak of 
 him — these trees that he planted, this orchard, and garden, and verdant 
 lawn. Yonder church, every stone and timber and inscription, speaks of 
 him. Yonder cemetery, in all its coming improvements, whose perpetuity 
 he has secured — it will be his memorial— the beautiful volume of our Long- 
 meadow history, which bears on every page the enduring mark of his lov- 
 ing care and finish of detail, both in choicest diction, the finest use of 
 English, of which he was a master, and in its local illustrations, for which 
 we are all indebted to his thorough and persistent loyalty — not to himself, 
 but to himself as one of us. We shall never open that beautiful book 
 without remembering him. and that with tears. We shall read and read 
 again that “Address of Welcome,” one of the finest gems of literary skill, 
 and the finest sense of what was due to such a day and such an hour, and 
 to the old Mother Longmeadow. And as we read it we shall recall him, 
 not as now, not as in these later days of morbid trembling and gloomy 
 apprehensions, but as he stood before us and all that grand assembly, the 
 man that he really was — our gifted and honored citizen, a workman of 
 whom we were not ashamed. 
 
 But there are memories still tenderer and more sacred — too sacred for 
 the handling of even his truest friend in any public presence. And yet, 
 standing where I do, in this beloved, cherished home, oh, how fondly 
 cherished — who had the home feeling more than he ? — I must recall, what 
 we his neighbors all knew, as did the inmates of this home, his singular 
 devotedness as a son, a brother, and a nephew. What a home he made 
 for his parents in their declining years, for his Aunt Eunice, for his sisters 
 and especially for his dear Sarah — by reason of her physical disabilities, 
 so tenderly and assiduously beloved. And it was this link that bound him, 
 far beyond the motives of a professional and generous and Christian phil- 
 anthropy, to the deaf and dumb. His affection for his pupils was per- 
 sonal and all embracing and intense, the same mind that was in Christ, 
 that passion for humanity, with which the Master loved His own and loves 
 them unto the end. It was his longing and hope, cherished up to the 
 last, to resume his Hartford work, and to continue it so long as God might 
 give him strength. * * * I said that he loved God. I might mention 
 
 recent scenes of prayer too sacred for public view, in which he united 
 
18 
 
 Richard Salter Storrs. 
 
 with broken voice and a childlike trust with those who knew and loved 
 him best. The morning that he died he led the family devotions as was 
 his custom. I hold in my hand a touching evidence of his love and trust, 
 a paper found in a private drawer and dated only two weeks ago. It is a 
 form of consecration, and thus it reveals his inner life. 
 
 “ My blessings are very many.” He proceeds to particularize them with 
 the simplicity of a little child. ‘ ‘ I must trust God that He will enable me 
 to overcome my nervous wakefulness, and so do my various duties. 
 
 ‘ ‘ What are these duties ? 
 
 “ My first duty is to keep myself in faith and trust upon God — to main- 
 tain a filial personal relation to Him. 
 
 “ My second duty is to do all I can for my dear sister Sarah, as a loving, 
 helpful brother. 
 
 “ My third duty is to continue the personal influence of my ancestors in 
 this community by keeping up this home, and doing good as I have oppor- 
 tunity among my neighbors. 
 
 “ My fourth duty is to use my experience and time in teaching at Hart- 
 ford, if God gives me strength. 
 
 ‘ ‘ My fifth duty is to use my talents in writing for the press in some 
 way, if I can do it in addition to the others. 
 
 ‘ ‘ May God help me to be continually thankful for all my blessings, to 
 trust implicitly in Him for all needs, and to be earnest and faithful in the 
 discharge of all my duties, and may He accept the consecration of myself 
 which I now try to make at this important crisis of my life. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Infinitely loving and holy Father in heaven ! Blessed Saviour and 
 divine Brother! With the Holy and Sanctifying and helping Spirit! The 
 One Divine Nature and Being whom I adore ! 
 
 “ To Thee and Thy service I would now give myself wholly and forever. 
 
 ‘ ‘ I would be Thine only, Thine always. 
 
 “I would love Thee supremely. 
 
 “ I would obey Thee lovingly and continually. 
 
 “ I would serve Thee with my whole heart, with all my powers of mind 
 and body. 
 
 “ I would earnestly desire and strive to put all my trust in Thee above 
 for all I need in this world and in the world to come. 
 
 “I need pardon. Be Thou pleased to pardon all my sins in the past 
 and in the future, by giving me true penitence for them and a sincere 
 desire and effort to overcome them. 
 
 “I need a deep sense of the divine love in the Father and in the Son. 
 Be Thou pleased, O Father in heaven, to reveal Thyself to me more and 
 more as a God of infinite purity and love. Be Thou pleased, O Saviour, 
 to reveal Thyself to me more and more as a perfect Saviour from Sin as 
 well as from its punishment. Be pleased also, O Holy Spirit, Comforter, 
 and Helper, to reveal Thyself to my inmost spirit as Sanctifier and con- 
 stant presence and power to purify and strengthen, and so may the divine 
 peace and strength fill my heart and pervade my life henceforth and for- 
 evermore. 
 
 “Amen and amen, even so let it be, dear Lord and Saviour. 
 
 “Longmeadow, Aug. Ylth, 1881 .” 
 
 The reading of this paper concluded the address. 
 
Richard Salter Storrs . 
 
 19 
 
 The testimony that appears in this consecration is of a piece 
 with much more of similar import that belongs both to the writ- 
 ten and unwritten history of his life, beginning with his early 
 boyhood, but space will not permit of further extracts here. 
 
 The love of nature grew with Mr. Storrs’ advancing years 
 into an enthusiastic passion. Not alone in the present did he 
 drink in, with everj T joyous sense attuned, the beauties of the 
 outward world, but he laid them up as treasures of his memory. 
 Among his papers are left diurnal records of his vacation tours, 
 which extended far and wide, and in which he sought out the 
 places of greatest interest, both in cities and the country. The 
 carriage-rides of many days’ continuance which I have taken 
 with him were full of the purest enjoyment, made richer by his 
 glowing appreciation of natural beauty, his keen insight in the 
 intercourse with men, his thoughtful conversation, and his over- 
 flowing sense of humor. In lonely spots, when both nature and 
 man failed to interest, some choice author was in his hand, and 
 particularly Tennyson, his favorite, and above all the “ In Me- 
 moriam,” which, by loving familiarity, had become inwrought, 
 even unconsciously, into his spiritual being, tinging with its 
 subtle and dreamy optimism his theology. Although anchored 
 at last by his Puritan lineage and training to the fundamental 
 doctrines of the Evangelical and New England type, yet was 
 his cable long and free in its swing, as he thought carefully for 
 himself, and, while always reverential and conservative in ex- 
 pression, pursued his own lines of thought to conclusions of 
 his own ; and these were somewhat more liberal in their trend 
 than the Calvinistic atmosphere of the old Longmeadow par- 
 sonage would heartily sustain. 
 
 Returning from this digression to those frequent excursions, 
 which lent brightness and color to his life, otherwise too sub- 
 jective and monotonous in its daily routine of teaching the 
 deaf, there are letters written to his deaf-mute sister Sarah, 
 which reveal not only their primary and beautiful intention to 
 transfigure her solitary life with a brother’s love and cheer, but 
 are wonderful specimens of picturesque, vivid, and vigorous 
 writing. They describe at length, and with a piquant minute- 
 ness and true perspective that makes them photographic, such 
 scenes as the second inauguration of President Lincoln, the rais- 
 ing of the old flag at Fort Sumter, the reception at Savannah of 
 the news of Lincoln’s assassination, with other vivid portrayals 
 of the Southern attitude in various places at that juncture, and 
 the Grand Review at Washington. Mr. Storrs’ fine insight and 
 
20 Richard Salter Starrs. 
 
 keen observation regarding the prominent characters of those 
 dramatic days have left such graphic descriptions in these fa- 
 miliar letters as are worthy of a permanent place in the litera- 
 ture of that eventful time. 
 
 The affectionate qualities of his domestic nature w r ere de- 
 veloped through his unwedded life in the rare beauty and assid- 
 uity of his filial and fraternal love, an affection which embraced 
 also his Aunt Eunice, and in due proportions all his kindred. 
 The old parsonage, which returned to the family after the de- 
 cease of his Uncle William, he renovated and adorned with a 
 loving and reverential fondness, studying with exquisite taste 
 how to preserve its ancient characteristics in harmony with 
 modern conveniences, and gathering up the old family relics 
 into its historic chambers, and covering their walls with ven- 
 erable portraits, while adding to them the memorials of a later 
 generation. 
 
 A sentiment kindred to his domestic affections led him to 
 enter heartily into the village improvements of the old church- 
 yard cemetery, for the perpetual care of which he was instru- 
 mental in establishing a cemetery fund under the care of an in- 
 corporated association ; improvements also of the village green 
 in grading and tree planting ; the thorough reconstruction of 
 the ancient church edifice, to which he contributed liberally, 
 and gave his laborious assistance as a member of the Parish 
 Committee. He was also a liberal and systematic contributor 
 to the various causes of Christian benevolence. The recent 
 Centennial Celebration of October 17, 1883, owed a large share 
 of its grand success to his skilful tact as the presiding officer % 
 and the fine eloquence of his “Address of Welcome.” And 
 above all was his public-spirited usefulness as a citizen com- 
 pleted and rounded out in the “Longmeadow Book,” that beau- 
 tiful civic memorial from whose every page shines out his loving- 
 care, literary and historic skill, and perfect taste. It will remain 
 his fitting and enduring monument, and an honor to the town 
 in whose service he spent so many of his last toiling, anxious, 
 and sleepless days. 
 
 Many things more would I gladly speak of my dear friend 
 and beloved helper did your space permit. 
 
 “ Rest for the toiling hand, 
 
 Rest for the anxious brow.” 
 
 And so “ He giveth His beloved sleep.” 
 
 Rev. JOHN W. HARDING, v 
 Longmeadow , Mass.